Sint Maarten

• Caribbean, located in the Leeward Islands (northern) group;
• Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean Sea;
• Sint Maarten lies east of the US Virgin Islands

• tropical marine climate, ameliorated by northeast trade winds, results in moderate temperatures;
• average rainfall of 150 cm/year;
• hurricane season stretches from July to November

total:

41.1 years (2023 est.)

male:

39.3 years

female:

42.8 years

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.07 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.86 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

7.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

8.6 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

7 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

79.5 years (2023 est.)

male:

77.2 years

female:

82 years

improved:

total: 95.1% of population

unimproved:

total: 4.9% of population (2017)

total population:

NA

male:

NA

female:

NA

• scarcity of potable water (increasing percentage provided by desalination);
• inadequate solid waste management;
• pollution from construction, chemical runoff, and sewage harms reefs

• tropical marine climate, ameliorated by northeast trade winds, results in moderate temperatures;
• average rainfall of 150 cm/year;
• hurricane season stretches from July to November

urban population:

100% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

1.16% annual rate of change (2020-25 est. est.)

• constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands;
• full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 2010;
• Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs

name:

Philipsburg

geographic coordinates:

18 1 N, 63 2 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

founded and named in 1763 by John PHILIPS, a Scottish captain in the Dutch navy

• King's Day (birthday of King WILLEM-ALEXANDER), 27 April (1967);
• note - King's or Queen's Day are observed on the ruling monarch's birthday;
• celebrated on 26 April if 27 April is a Sunday;
• local holiday Sint Maarten's Day, 11 November (1985), commemorates the discovery of the island by COLUMBUS on Saint Martin's Day, 11 November 1493;
• celebrated on both halves of the island

history:

previous 1947, 1955; latest adopted 21 July 2010, entered into force 10 October 2010 (regulates governance of Sint Maarten but is subordinate to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

amendments:

• proposals initiated by the Government or by Parliament;
• passage requires at least a two-thirds majority of the Parliament membership;
• passage of amendments relating to fundamental rights, authorities of the governor and of Parliament must include the "views" of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Government prior to ratification by Parliament

chief of state:

King WILLEM-ALEXANDER of the Netherlands (since 30 April 2013); represented by Governor Ajamu G. BALY (since 10 October 2022)

head of government:

Prime Minister Silveria JACOBS (since 28 March 2020)

cabinet:

Cabinet nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the governor

elections/appointments:

• the monarch is hereditary;
• governor appointed by the monarch for a 6-year term;
• following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party usually elected prime minister by Parliament

description:

unicameral Parliament of Sint Maarten (15 seats; members directly elected by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held 9 January 2020 (next to be held on 11 January 2024)

election results:

percent of vote by party - NA 35.2%, UP 24.2%, US Party 13.2%, PFP 10.6%, UD 8.7%, other 8.1%; seats by party - NA 6, UP 4, PFP 2, US Party 2, UD 1

highest court(s):

• Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba or "Joint Court of Justice" (consists of the presiding judge, other members, and their substitutes);
• final appeals heard by the Supreme Court (in The Hague, Netherlands);
• note - prior to 2010, the Joint Court of Justice was the Common Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

judge selection and term of office:

Joint Court judges appointed by the monarch serve for life

subordinate courts:

Courts in First Instance

• National Alliance or NA [Silveria JACOBS]
• Party for Progress or PFP [Melissa GUMBS]
• Sint Maarten Christian Party or SMCP [Garcia ARRINDELL]
• United Democrats Party or UD [Sarah WESCOT-WILLIAMS]
• United People's Party or UP [Theodore HEYLIGER]
• United Sint Maarten Party or US Party [Frans RICHARDSON]

• two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and blue with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side;
• the center of the triangle displays the Sint Maarten coat of arms;
• the arms consist of an orange-bordered blue shield prominently displaying the white court house in Philipsburg, as well as a bouquet of yellow sage (the national flower) in the upper left, and the silhouette of a Dutch-French friendship monument in the upper right;
• the shield is surmounted by a yellow rising sun in front of which is a brown pelican in flight;
• a yellow scroll below the shield bears the motto: SEMPER PROGREDIENS (Always Progressing);
• the three main colors are identical to those on the Dutch flag

note: the flag somewhat resembles that of the Philippines but with the main red and blue bands reversed; the banner more closely evokes the wartime Philippine flag

• high-income, tourism-based Dutch autonomous constituent economy;
• severe hurricane- and COVID-19-related economic recessions;
• multilateral trust fund helping offset economic downturn;
• no property taxation;
• re-exporter to Saint Martin

agriculture:

1.1%

industry:

15.2%

services:

83.7% (2008 est.)

general assessment:

• generally adequate facilities;
• growth sectors include mobile telephone and data segments;
• effective competition;
• LTE expansion;
• tourism and telecom sector contribute greatly to the GDP (2018)

domestic:

196 per 100 mobile-cellular teledensity (2012)

international:

• country code - 1-721;
• landing points for SMPR-1 and the ECFS submarine cables providing connectivity to the Caribbean;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

major seaport(s):

Philipsburg

oil terminal(s):

Coles Bay oil terminal

tier rating:

• Tier 3 — Sint Maarten does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore Sint Maarten was downgraded to Tier 3;
• officials took some steps to address trafficking, including investigating a potential trafficking case;
• however, the government did not report prosecuting or convicting any traffickers nor identify any victims for the second consecutive year;
• Sint Maarten was not equipped to provide services to trafficking victims due to its lack of shelters, funding, and formal arrangements with service providers;
• the government did not update its national action plan, which expired in 2018, and interagency coordination was severely lacking;
• officials consistently conflated human trafficking with migrant smuggling (2022)

trafficking profile:

• human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Sint Maarten;
• some brothel and dance club owners exploit women and girls from Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Russia in sex trafficking;
• women from Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking in Sint Maarten;
• government officials report a significant number of migrant workers are vulnerable to coercive schemes in domestic service, construction, Chinese national-owned markets, retail shops, food service, landscaping, and housekeeping;
• criminals, including smugglers, subject migrants—specifically Cuban and Brazilian nationals—who transit Sint Maarten en route to the United States and Canada to forced labor or sex trafficking;
• traffickers may exploit, under false pretenses, Colombian and Venezuelan women traveling to the islands in forced labor or sex trafficking (2022)